(a)Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, the State Board of Education shall establish an innovative assessment pilot program to examine one or more alternate assessment and accountability systems aligned with state academic content standards. The pilot program shall span from three to five years in duration, as determined by the state board and may include up to ten local school system participants. A consortium of local school systems implementing the same innovative alternate assessment may participate in the pilot program and shall be counted as one of the ten pilot program participants. The participating local school systems shall be selected by the state board in a competitive process and based on criteria established by the state board, including current compliance with the term
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(a) Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, the State Board of Education shall establish an innovative assessment pilot program to examine one or more alternate assessment and accountability systems aligned with state academic content standards. The pilot program shall span from three to five years in duration, as determined by the state board and may include up to ten local school system participants. A consortium of local school systems implementing the same innovative alternate assessment may participate in the pilot program and shall be counted as one of the ten pilot program participants. The participating local school systems shall be selected by the state board in a competitive process and based on criteria established by the state board, including current compliance with the terms of their charter system contract or strategic waivers school system contract. (b) The local school systems participating in the pilot program shall be authorized to design and implement an innovative alternate assessment and accountability program which may include, but shall not be limited to, cumulative year-end assessments, competency based assessments, instructionally embedded assessments, interim assessments, performance based assessments, or other innovated assessment designs approved by the State Board of Education. In order to allow the time and resources for the participating local school systems to implement an innovative alternate assessment and accountability program, the state board shall be authorized to reduce the state-wide testing requirements for such local school systems for the duration of the pilot program for end-of-grade and end-of-course assessments as contained in Code Section 20-2-281 . (c) Notwithstanding Code Sections 20-2-82 , 20-2-244 , and 20-2-2065 , the State Board of Education shall be authorized to waive, for the duration of the pilot program, all or a portion of the requirements of Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this title for local school systems participating in the pilot program, but may replace any such accountability requirements with alternate requirements as specified in the local school system's charter system contract or strategic waivers school system contract. (d) Each local school system participating in the pilot program shall amend its charter system contract or strategic waivers school system contract to reflect the innovative alternate assessment and accountability system that will be utilized during the term of the pilot program. Any local school system in the pilot program that is not complying with the terms of its charter system contract or strategic waivers school system contract may be removed from the pilot program at the sole discretion of the state board and shall be subject to the state-wide assessment requirements contained in Code Section 20-2-281 and the accountability system provided for in Part 3 of Article 2 of Chapter 14 of this title. (e) The State Board of Education shall take all reasonable steps to obtain any necessary waivers or approvals and maximum flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education to facilitate the implementation of the innovative assessment pilot program within the confines of federal law, including any appropriate changes to the state-wide accountability system established in the state plan for Georgia pursuant to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act that are necessary for the local school systems participating in the pilot program. (f) (1) The State Board of Education may contract with an external, independent third party with expertise in innovative and flexible approaches to assessment systems to assist in the development and implementation of one or more innovative alternate assessment and accountability systems. Such independent third party shall have access to and expertise from external technical experts, including technical experts in states that have pursued innovative and flexible approaches, in state assessment and accountability systems as well as knowledge and experience in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act and its implementing regulations. (2) The State Board of Education shall consult with and provide coordination with the Office of Student Achievement in the development and implementation of the pilot program established pursuant to this Code section. (3) The State Board of Education and the Department of Education shall contract with an external, independent third party to evaluate comparability between the innovative assessments, including norm-referenced assessments, and the state-wide assessments, including for subgroups of students, and shall identify strategies that may be used to scale the innovative assessment to all local school systems state wide. The State Board of Education shall determine initial performance based baselines and accountability requirements for local school systems participating in the pilot program. (4) Local school systems participating in the pilot program shall be encouraged to collaborate amongst each other during the course of the pilot program. (g) No later than December 31, 2019, and annually thereafter for the duration of the pilot program, the Department of Education shall submit a detailed written report, approved by the State Board of Education, on the implementation and effectiveness of the innovative assessment pilot program to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate. The final report shall also include recommendations as to expansion of the pilot program state wide and estimated costs of implementation.